Canary Mail vs Spark compared
Canary Mail vs Spark on price, monthly billing, device limits, AI, encryption and where each keeps your mail and logins, from both vendors' pages.
By Emmett Miller
Pick Canary Mail if you want your mail and logins kept on your device, PGP encryption, or a lifetime purchase instead of a subscription. Pick Spark if you want to pay month to month, use its free plan on more than two devices, or share drafts and inboxes with a team.
The two apps cover the same ground: Mac, iPhone, Windows and Android, unlimited accounts on the free plan, and AI on paid plans. So the choice comes down to billing, security and where your data sits. Many "Canary vs Spark" pages online are written by Canary itself. This one uses only each vendor's own pricing, help and privacy pages, as of November 2026.
Canary Mail and Spark at a glance
Alrighty is our app. It's in the first column as a third option, with its own short section after the comparison.
| Alrighty | Canary Mail | Spark | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Mac (Apple silicon), Windows, Linux | Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android | Mac, iPhone, Windows, Android |
| Accounts | iCloud, Gmail, Outlook | Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Exchange, Yahoo, Zoho, Proton, IMAP | Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, AOL, GMX, IMAP |
| Price | 14-day trial, then Free plan or Pro | Free; Growth $36 a year; Pro+ $100 a year; lifetime options | Free; Plus $10 a month or $99 a year; Pro $20 or $199 |
| Where mail is kept | Your computer, searched on your computer | Your device; push data held briefly on servers in Germany | Your provider; some features run on Spark's servers |
| Unwanted mail | Stop mail, Clean up, Filters | 1-Click Unsubscribe on every plan; cleaners on Growth | Gatekeeper screens new senders; block sender or domain |
| AI, and its default | Reply drafts start when you open a reply, signed in; your own AI is off until you connect it | AI Copilot on Growth and Pro+ | Spark +AI on Plus and Pro; free plan gets a preview |
Is Canary Mail or Spark cheaper?
Canary is cheaper per year. Spark is the only one you can pay monthly.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Canary Growth | not offered | $36 |
| Canary Pro+ | not offered | $100 |
| Spark Plus | $10 | $99 |
| Spark Pro | $20 | $199 |
Canary's pricing page shows "$3/month" and "$10/month," but its FAQ explains those are monthly equivalents of a yearly plan: Canary doesn't offer monthly subscriptions. It also sells Growth and Pro+ as a one-time lifetime purchase. The pricing page doesn't list the lifetime price; the Mac App Store lists lifetime bundles at $99.99.
Spark's pricing has a monthly and a yearly price for each plan, and no lifetime option.
Both trials last seven days. Canary's needs no credit card and drops back to Free when it ends. Spark's trial starts "when you subscribe directly in the app."
What do the free plans include?
Both free plans take unlimited accounts. They differ on devices and extras.
- Canary Free: unified inbox, "Read Receipts (Lite)," snooze and pin, email templates and 1-Click Unsubscribe, on up to 2 devices.
- Spark Free: Smart Inbox, Smart Notifications, a calendar and "essential email productivity tools," plus a "limited free preview" of its AI. Spark's pricing page names no device limit.
If you read mail on a Mac, an iPhone and an iPad, Canary's free plan covers two of them. Its paid plans raise the limit to 5 devices.
Which keeps your mail and password off its servers?
Canary keeps more on your device. Its privacy policy says your credentials and email content are "stored on your device and is never transferred to our servers." The exception is push notifications: Canary keeps some data on its servers until "the notification for that email is delivered to your device." If you use fetch mode instead, it says all data stays local. Its servers are in Germany. Canary's optional Cloud Sync is off by default, and its keys sit in your iCloud Keychain.
Spark runs more on its servers, and its privacy page says which features need them: teams, shared drafts, delegation, templates and Send Later. Push notifications sync "the subject and a part of your message" in encrypted form for up to 4 hours. For Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo, Spark holds a token. For AOL, Exchange and custom IMAP accounts, it holds your login and password, encrypted. Its servers are "hosted by Google in the US."
If you have an Exchange or IMAP account and don't want a company storing its password, that point favors Canary.
Which has better AI, Canary or Spark?
Spark has more AI, Canary has more choice of model companies, and both keep your mail out of training.
- Spark +AI on Plus and Pro covers writing, summaries, translation, meeting notes and an AI Assistant. Pro adds Auto-Drafts and Autopilot. It runs on Azure OpenAI, which keeps data no more than 30 days and doesn't train on it (Spark).
- Canary's AI Copilot on Growth and Pro+ writes and summarizes mail. Its privacy policy says it uses "top-tier providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, Google and others," and that Canary has "opted out of data sharing." Its pricing FAQ says your emails "are not used to train AI models."
Neither vendor says whether its AI is on by default.
Which is better for security and encryption?
Canary. Its Pro+ plan at $100 a year adds "PGP Encryption," "SecureSend Encryption (HIPAA)," phishing and ransomware protection, impersonation detection and misdirection prevention (Canary). Spark's pricing names "security and controls" only on Enterprise, with no public price, and doesn't list PGP.
If you need to send encrypted mail to clients or patients, Canary Pro+ is built for that job.
Which is better for a team?
Spark. Shared emails with comments, shared drafts, shared links and delegation are all on its privacy page, Plus includes "essential team collaboration," and Pro adds a HubSpot integration. Canary's pricing page lists "App Integrations" on Growth but describes no shared inbox.
How do they handle unwanted mail?
Canary unsubscribes, Spark screens. Canary lists "1-Click Unsubscribe" on every plan and adds an "Inbox Cleaner" and "Gray Mail Cleaner" on Growth. Spark's Gatekeeper "screens the sender" the first time someone writes, so you accept or block them, and you can block a whole domain.
Where Alrighty fits
Alrighty is a third choice if you read mail on a computer and your accounts are iCloud, Gmail and Outlook. It keeps mail, its search index and your passwords on your computer, with no Alrighty server holding your logins.
- Stop mail unsubscribes every way a message offers, archives that sender's mail, and moves their new mail out as it arrives. It only unsubscribes from senders whose mail passed DMARC, so a scammer never learns your address is live. Clean up lists likely scams, cold outreach and newsletters you never open, to stop them all at once.
- Search on your computer matches meaning as well as words, across every account.
- Your own AI. Claude, ChatGPT's desktop app, Codex or a local model can read your mail once you turn it on with Connect AI, and work in a window you watch. Nothing sends until you click Send.
What it doesn't do. Alrighty runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, but has no iPhone, iPad or Android app. It takes no Yahoo, Zoho, Proton or other IMAP accounts. It has no PGP, calendar or team features. Unlike Spark's Gatekeeper, it doesn't screen first-time senders: their mail lands in the Inbox, and you stop the ones you don't want. Signed in, suggested replies and Clean up send the emails they read through Alrighty's server to AI model companies, OpenAI among them. The price is a 14-day trial with no card, then a Free plan or Pro.
Which should you pick
- Mail on your computer, not your phone, with iCloud, Gmail and Outlook, logins kept on your computer, and junk stopped in one step: Alrighty.
- Every device, with mail and passwords kept on the device: Canary Mail.
- PGP or HIPAA-ready encrypted mail: Canary Pro+.
- Pay once, not every year: Canary's lifetime purchase.
- Monthly billing: Spark.
- Shared drafts, comments and delegation for a team: Spark.
- Screen first-time senders before they reach you: Spark's Gatekeeper.
For more choices, see our Canary Mail alternatives and Spark alternatives, or the best email app for multiple accounts. More pairs are on our compare page.
Questions
Does one Canary or Spark subscription cover all my devices?
Yes for both. Spark says a subscription "unlocks paid features on all the devices where you use Spark." Canary's paid plans and lifetime purchase cover up to 5 devices "across macOS, iOS, Windows, and Android."
Can I move from Spark to Canary without losing mail?
Yes. Both read your mail from your provider, and Spark says your email "is stored on the server of your email account." Spark-only data, such as shared drafts and comments, stays with Spark.
Is Canary Mail's AI free?
No. AI Copilot comes with Growth ($36 a year) and Pro+ ($100 a year). The free plan lists no AI. Spark's free plan includes a limited AI preview.
Where are Canary's and Spark's servers?
Canary says the data it collects "is stored on our servers in Germany." Spark says its cloud is "hosted by Google in the US."